MORE than four-hundred-thousand Australians keep chickens, making them the fourth most popular pet behind dogs, cats and fish.<\/p>\n
Now is your chance to adopt an ex-egg laying hen thanks to NSW animal adoption charity, Til The Cows Come Home.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, 27 June TTCCH will be in Bendigo to adopt out 100 hyline brown hens, surrendered by a local free range egg farm.<\/p>\n
Founder, director and CEO of TTCCH Donna Wild said the hens have passed their prime egg-laying period, however still have plenty to offer.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually, hens on egg farms are gassed at 18 months old, Ms Wild said. \u201cThe reason is a reduction in egg laying occurs at that time, so there\u2019s a peak period of when the hens are viable to a farmer and when they\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo even though they\u2019re still laying eggs and they\u2019re still very healthy and can live another five years, to farmers they\u2019re unviable and therefore they have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Wild said they are looking for loving homes for the hens, some of which may increase egg laying with the right care.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like all our hens to go to free range homes where they\u2019re going to not be kept in little cages again and not have limited space again, instead they can roam around a yard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them do keep laying and in fact increase laying after a few months of healthy care, sunshine, exercise and a variety of food.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Wild founded TTCCH two years ago when she decided to combine her love of animals with volunteering but noticed that farm sanctuaries around Australia were at max capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf somebody has a cow that they\u2019ve loved dearly and because of COVID they\u2019ve lost their job and have to move off acreage they can\u2019t take their cow\u2026 they now know they can surrender the cow to us and it\u2019ll be sent to a forever loving home.\u201d<\/p>\n
For information on adopting a hen, head to Til The Cows Come Home\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MORE than four-hundred-thousand Australians keep chickens, making them the fourth most popular pet behind dogs, cats and fish. Now is your chance to adopt an ex-egg laying hen thanks to NSW animal adoption charity, Til The Cows Come Home. On Saturday, 27 June TTCCH will be in Bendigo to adopt out 100 hyline brown hens, […]<\/p>\n